President Ahmad al-Shar’a on Sunday called for the restoration of U.S.–Syrian relations following the lifting of sanctions.
His remarks came during an interview with CBS News, according to Syria’s state-run channels Al-Ikhbariyah and SANA.
اضافة اعلان
Earlier on Sunday, al-Shar’a arrived in New York to attend the UN General Assembly meetings, becoming the first Syrian president to participate since 1967.
Since the 1967 war and Syria’s loss of the Golan Heights to Israel, Damascus had adopted a rigid stance toward international institutions, particularly the UN, which it deemed biased in favor of Israel due to U.S. and Western support. As a result, no Syrian president since former president Nureddin al-Atassi (1966–1970) had attended the UN General Assembly at the summit level.
Quoting his CBS interview, Al-Ikhbariyah reported al-Shar’a as saying: “President Trump has taken a major step toward Syria by lifting the sanctions.” He added: “We must restore U.S.–Syrian relations in a proper and direct way.”
Al-Shar’a urged the world “not to collude again in killing the Syrian people by obstructing the lifting of sanctions,” stressing: “Anyone who stands against lifting the sanctions is complicit once again in the killing of Syrians.”
He described Trump’s move as “swift, courageous, and historic,” reflecting recognition that Syria “must be safe, stable, and united.” He continued: “This serves the interests of all nations, not only Syria.”
In early July, Trump signed an executive order ending U.S. sanctions imposed on Syria in response to the Assad regime’s violent suppression of the 2011 uprising. Several European countries followed suit by announcing the removal of their economic sanctions.
Al-Shar’a affirmed: “We have restored hope to refugees and displaced people so they can return to their homeland.” He previously predicted that most Syrians abroad would return within two years.
According to the UNHCR, more than 2.4 million Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons have returned since the downfall of the ousted regime on Dec. 8 of last year up to Aug. 14 of this year, including 779,473 refugees from neighboring countries and 1,694,418 internally displaced.
During the interview, al-Shar’a also called on the United States to engage in talks on “a range of issues and mutual interests, and to restore relations in a proper and direct manner.”
When asked about being labeled a “pragmatist,” al-Shar’a responded: “I don’t fully agree with the term pragmatism, because in Arabic it carries some negative connotations. The idea is simply to look at what is happening now, regardless of what has been said in the media.”
He added: “Today, we have effectively saved the people from the oppression imposed on them by the criminal regime. We restored hope to those who are refugees abroad or displaced internally so they can return home.”
Al-Shar’a went on: “We supported Syrians who were bombed with chemical weapons, we fought ISIS, and we expelled Iranian militias and Hezbollah from the region.”
He noted that “the noble actions we carried out in Syria should have been the responsibility of the international community, which failed even to free a single captive, break a single siege in starving towns, or deter the regime from using chemical weapons.”
He concluded: “That is why I don’t believe we should be standing accused, defending ourselves. Instead, we should be the ones asking others: Why did you remain silent while these horrific crimes were taking place in Syria?”
On Dec. 8, 2024, Syrian factions took full control of the country, ending 61 years of Ba’ath Party rule and 53 years of Assad family dominance.
